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NEWS/ The Charlotte Post
Thursday, March 13,1997
Give
props
to the
sisters
Black women
had an impact
on history, too
MELODYE MICERE STEWART
In the
spirit of
Ma’at
Harriet, Sojourner, Maria
Stewart, Phyllis Wheatley,
Madame C.J. Walker, Ida B.
Wells Barnett, Mary Church
Terrell, Maggie Lena Walker,
Mary McLeod Bethune and
Fannie Lou Hamer. African
American women. Black women
who made serious history.
March is Women’s History
Month. The contributions,
courage and commitment of
women of African descent
should be celebrated and
observed in our community as
an extension of last month’s
observances of black history.
The reasons why should be
obvious. Black women have
been the backbone of the free
dom struggle in African
American history. Beginning
with the brutal legacy of
enslavement, black women
chose to survive, bearing chil
dren, raising them and seeing
them sold off or killed. But they
endured. While many worked
on the Underground Railroad, it
was Harriet Tubman who dis
tinguished herself as a “conduc
tor” to be reckoned with. Bom
enslaved as Isabella, Sojourner
'Truth traveled, exhorting all
those who would listen to come
to the truth regarding the
humanity of black people. She
extended the path of female ora
tory first started by Maria W.
Stewart, .Sarah Parker Remond,
Frances Ellen Harper, Mary
Shadd and Mary Bibb - all pub
lic speakers during the early
1800s,
It has been said, if you educate
a woman, you educate a nation.
Black women understood the
role of education in the fight for
freedom and responded by cre
ating learning opportunities
wherever they could. 'The list of
distinguished Afiican American
women educators is particularly
lengthy and includes Lucy C.
Laney, Nannie Helen
Burroughs, Charlotte Hawkins
Brown and Mary McLeod
Bethune who all founded
schools. South Carolinian
Septima Clark toiled during the
days of agitative segregation,
helping to educate an entire
community, preparing black cit
izens to read, vote and be count
ed
While the political power of
black womeii is yet to be fully
tapped, it has been noted that
without black women, there
would not have been a civil
rights movement. From Rosa
Parks to Daisy Bates to Ella
Baker to Fannie Lou Hamer -
most of the names of the
valiant, determined and fearless
women we will never know.
Women who have served with
great courage in the political
arena include Mary McLeod
Bethune, Shirley Chisholm and
Patricia R. Harris. And let us
not forget the first black women
judges - Jane Matilda BoUn and
Constance Baker Motley.
Clearly, the history of Afiican
Anterican women is a definitive
statement on the health and
well-being of an entire race.
Educator Anna Julia Cooper
said it best in 1892, “When and
where I enter, in the quiet,
undisputed dignity of my wom
anhood, without violence and
without suing or special patron
age, then and there the whole...
race enters with me.”
Neighborhood revitalization
Continued from page 1A
go back into the same environ
ment,” Moore said. “We bring in
(Narcotics Anonymous),
(Alcoholics Anonymous) and the
12-step program. We create a
sense of pride. We are trying to
break the cycle.”
Said Martin: “This is my life
given back to me. I was living
with my sister. We were not get
ting along. We were fighting all
the time. I had to get out of
there.”
Martin, like so many others,
came to Charlotte seeking
greater job opportunity, but
began selling drugs to help take
care of her son.
“I just made the wrong choice
at that time,” Martin said. “I
wish I hadn’t done it, but you
learn from your mistakes.”
Martin’s arrest was her first
offense, making her a good can
didate for the Structured Day
program, which uses strict rules
and ample assistance to rehabil
itate non-violent offenders with
out sending them to prison.
Adams, one of three casework
ers for the program, said finding
housing participants is the most
difficult challenge.
“A lot of times, the clients we
work with live in government
housing,” she said. “Once they
get charged, they can no longer
do that. Housing is one of the
most difficult obstacles we have
to face. 'Through the regular sys
tem it is hard to get housing. If
you have any crimined records,
you cannot get housing.”
Citing Martin’s case, Adams
said: “Prison was not necessari
ly going to help her. What she
needed was a job and healthy
surroundings. One of the goals
is to give them skills they needs
so they don’t have to sell drugs.
“Phyllis has been a role model
client. That’s one of the reasons
we recommended her to Donnie.
We want to help people who
want to do right. Phyllis was
doing everything we asked her
to do.”
Cummings Avenue, a section
of Lincoln Heights north of
LaSalle Street, is a community
of small duplexes, houses and
apartments - low-cost rental
properties in various states of
deterioration. The area has
become known for illegal drug
sales along its streets and sever
al housing units. Violence visits
regularly and random gunfire
often pierces the silence of the
night.
Fighting Back, the county’s
drug and alcohol prevention
program, and other groups,
such as the Northwest Corridor
Conununity Development Corp.
have taken a special interest in
Budget needs increase
Continued from page 1A
school system is actually less
that it was 10 years ago.
In 1988, the county spent $972
per student, but only $957 in
1996. He said spending as a
share of the county’s property
tax collections has declined finm
51.7 percent to 38.7 percent.
“We are not going to cut our
way to excellence L’Orange
said.
Smith said that with employ
ers demanding better-prepared
students, improving student
achievement is urgent.
“We have got to find a struc
ture to do a better job,” he said.
“We are not just asking for more
for cutesy projects.”
Smith said he is not removing
support from site-based deci
sion-making and creativity, but
he wants a more structured cur
riculum.
“If it aU worked, we wouldn’t
be having our reading scores
below grade level for the last six
years,” he said. “We must have
a clear imderstanding of what
we expect. 'That’s true in busi
ness. Every McDonald’s looks
and operates about the same.”
Smith’s cuts include elimina
tion of fifth grade band, since
sixth-graders have moved to
middle schools. Fifth- and sixth-
graders used to take 45-minute
band classes twice a week. The
change would save nearly $1
million.
Another major change would
be the combining of Highland
and Tryon Hills elementary
schools into one K-5 school.
Smith noted that one of the
biggest increases is the $4.7 mil
lion used to reduce K-3 class
size in elementary schools with
high numbers of underachieving
students.
Anticipating opposition and
questions about his budget.
Smith said it can be defended.
“The budget is put together in
a goal-directed fashion,” he said.
“There are no grandiose ideas
that spend money and has no
impact on teachers and stu
dents. 'The spending is for spe
cific programs that touch chil
dren.”
•The new high school in
Matthews will be named after a
teacher killed in a January fire.
The school will be named after
David Butler, who taught at
West Charlotte High and
Piedmont
Butler
Middle
schools.
Butler, a
respected and
popular
teacher, died
in a house fire
in January.
Family and
friends pre
sented the
school board
with a 500-signature petition
requesting that the new high
school at N.C. 51 be named for
Butler. It is believed to be the
first school named for a teacher.
Another name had been cho
sen, but the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg school board
decided to name the new school,
which opens in August, David
W. Butler High School
Proposed names had included
New Century High School,
Carolina Central Senior High
School and Centory Senior High
School.
Butler’s wife, April, is a
teacher at Tryon Hills
Elementary.
Cliarlotte
For
Comments or
questions,
Please call us
at (704) 376-
0496 or
1 (888) 376-
post
revitalizing the community.
That interest is due in part
because of Cummings Avenue’s
strategic location near the
Beatties Ford Road/LaSalle
Street intersection, a major
commercial area in the
Northwest Corridor.
Moore admits attracting some
one with a drug conviction may
sound unusual, but it fits the
program’s goals since revitaliz
ing communities usually means
revitalizing people.
He’s also working to provide
apartments in the area for
women from the Salvation
Army’s women’s shelter.
All residents will be able to
access a range of services, from
parenting training, to Narcotics
Anonymous and Alcoholics
Anonymous. “We are putting
together programs to help peo
ple,” Moore said.
Moore’s office is itself a symbol
of revitalization. Fighting
Back’s Alert Center at 1716
Cummings Ave. was once used
for drug sales and prostitution,
but is now the base for legiti
mate services.
Are you interested in losing weight, feeling better
and looking great? For a nutritional boost you
— can feel, it’s time for
. Omnitrition
Call Linda Bailay, Independent DtetrilNitor, at (704)559-5984
JOB FAIR
FOR WORKERS OVER 50
Wednesday, March 19
9am-12pm
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Senior Center
2225 Tyvola Road 522-6222
•Contact Employers ‘Free Workshops
•Door Prizes ‘Coupons
Sponsored by Senior Resources, Inc, and The Charlone-Mecklenburg Senior Center ^
Beeper Haus, Inc.
Air Time As Low As
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875 Albright Rd ♦ Rock Hill, S.C.
(704)566-9500
3637 E. Indp. Blvd. • Charlotte, N.C.
N.C. &
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Coverage
All Major
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Cards
Accepted
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KINGSPARK
Clean, safe, quiet community
conveniently locatedon busline.
Afforidable 2 bedroom garden
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range, AC and water included in
rent. Helpful resident manager
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Call
333-2966
M-F 9:30-6:00
Mon.-Fri. 8am-6pm
Sat. 7.30am-6pm
Appt. Available
Resident Barbers
NEW LOOKS’^
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Juan Tart
Ron Young
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Curtis Martin
“Tee” Jones
Robert Locke
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(704)563-8184
1461-C East way Dr.
JOHNS
SMITH
UNIWRSITY
THE DIVISION of LIFELONG LEARNING ANNOUNCES A.
PRE-EMPLOYMENT TRAINING PROGRAM
for
PROSPECTIVE HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
WHERE: Center For Integrated Studies,
Johnson C. Smith University
(100 Beatties Ford Road, Charlotte, NC)
WHEN: 2 THREE-WEEK SESSIONS TO CHOOSE FROM
Session A: March 24 to April 11, 8 am - 5 pm
or...
Session B: April 14 to May 2, 8 am - 5 pm
COST: FREE!!
To be enrolled, all students must pass a drug-screening test
administered by JCSU
TOPICS COVERED: Interpersonal Communications / Ethics, Math and Metric
System, Highway Construction Topics (careers, technology,
site plan reading, small tool usage, traffic control, & much
more!). Safety / First Aid, Physical Conditioning,
Job Hunting / Career Planning / Job Placement Skills, and
others!!
TO REGISTER, CALL OR WRITE:
Division of Lifelong Learning
100 Beatties Ford Road • Charlotte, North Carolina 28216
(704)378-1251/1244 • FAX (704)378-3543